Chicago Bears general manager Phil Emery is comfortable with Jordan Palmer as his No. 2 quarterback behind Jay Cutler -- the starter who hasn't played 16 regular-seaon games since 2009.

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Emery made it eminently clear last week that he thinks Palmer can play the Josh McCown role in Chicago. And if/when it gets to Day 3 of the 2014 NFL Draft without the Bears grabbing a signal-caller, Palmer might have little competition for the duties.

"I just did a little study. It's very interesting," Emery said, per ESPN.com. "That developmental theory doesn't hold a whole lot of water.

"There's entire classes of quarterbacks, since '06, I went back and looked at from Jay's on -- when people say developmental quarterbacks, OK, so who has gotten developed? There isn't a single quarterback after the third round since 2006 that has been a long-term starter. So you're either developing thirds, and most of them have been wiped out of the league. So to get a quality quarterback, you've got to draft them high. That 2012 class is a blip on the radar that's unusual, highly unusual."

"Most of the starters in this league come from the first and second round," Emery continued. "So that's where you need to take a quarterback. So when you talk about quarterback every year, they have to be somebody that you truly believe will beat out the second and third quarterback that you perceive on your roster. And if not, history shows that you shouldn't make that pick."

For Emery, the odds of mining a Tom Brady are so low it's not worth wasting a late pick on a long shot. With a quarterback whisperer like coach Marc Trestman, Emery would rather excavate from the pile of cast-off veteran backups.